AU: Hello again! I've been slacking off on this fic lately, haven't I? Hope you guys are still out there somewhere. Okay, moving on! This chapter will be the last of the flashbacks, and catch you up to the rest of what's relevant to the current plot. Short, but nasty. Enjoy!

11

The building sat on a low hill, a short walk's distance from a lake. It was a hospital, and like many of the well-meaning organizations in this time of war, had fallen into neglect and disrepair. Both sides had forgotten it, and it was lucky to still be standing.

"North or South?" Jasper asked.

"Does it matter?" said Maria. "No one will notice anything amiss here. We just have to be sure to take all of them."

Jasper nodded, although his heart gave a feeble lurch of resistance. "All right."

"All the same, you better wear your uniform. Just to make things go smoothly."

Jasper turned to the coven. "Everyone will wait here until my signal," he said. "You've learned much, and you deserve to be rewarded for your patience. I'm going inside to speak to the nurse in charge. She will open the doors for us, and then and only then will you follow me."

"Why are we waitin' for the doors to open?" asked one of the vampires. "Can't we break 'em down?"

"We can, but we want to use this place as shelter for a few days. We all need rest."

"Do as he says," said Maria. "There is plenty for everyone. No need to rush."

Jasper shrugged into his confederate jacket—now so threadbare and stained it barely held together—and slung his bayonet over his shoulder. "This won't take long," he said.

And then he was off. There was a fresh bloodstain on the left side of his jacket, right over his ribs. Jasper rubbed at the stain, getting the blood on his hands, then adopted a limp and hunched over as he approached the door. He held a hand tight against his ribs when he crossed the threshold.

The nurse at the desk gasped and ran over to him. "Oh my!" she said. "Are you badly hurt, sir?"

"Don't worry about me, ma'am," said Jasper, making his voice gruff and strained. "I have a small regiment of soldiers with me. Not many of us survived the battle at Galveston, and we're just looking for a place to stay for the night."

The nurse nodded. "Of course. We don't have many provisions left, but we can find beds for you at least. Bring them inside."

"Thank you, ma'am."

The nurse followed Jasper to the doors and helped him open them wide. The vampires were inside in seconds. It wasn't until the screams started that the nurse thought to go back inside. Jasper didn't let her see—he could spare her that horror at least. He grabbed her by the ties of her white apron and snapped her neck back before breaking the skin. Then he drained her dry.

The rest of the hospital was easy. Most of its residents were injured or otherwise incapacitated, and couldn't even try to run. No one got out. No one survived. One man, a doctor, tried to escape by jumping out a narrow window in the kitchen, but Jasper launched his bayonet like a javelin and struck him in the back. Another bunch of stragglers tried to hide by locking themselves behind a green door with a horseshoe pinned over it. Maria decided to let them stay; they'd need provisions for later, after all.

Once the slaughter was complete, Jasper divided the troops into groups of five to go through the entire building and get rid of the bodies. He and Maria scouted the hospital for valuables that they could barter or trade later. It wasn't until they had cleared the entire building, save for their provisions, that Maria spoke.

"I want you to be honest with me, Jasper," she said.

Jasper's heart froze. Her words were laced with a threat, something that she'd been wanting for a long time but had waited until now to pursue it.

"Yes, Maria?" he asked.

"Do you love me?"

He stared at her. There was no affection, no tenderness in her face. Jasper had never been in love before, but he knew that whatever he felt for Maria, it was different. Still, there was no way for her to know that. "Yes," he answered, feeding sincerity into his voice. "You're all I have."

"Good," Maria said curtly. "Because I wouldn't like to think you'd find some reason to run away. You belong here, with me."

And there, standing in the bloodied hallway, with the whimpering voices of survivors echoing too softly for human ears to hear, as their dark comrades finished their brutal work, Jasper stopped caring. Maria was strong, and powerfully evil, but not as strong as he was. He could leave her at any moment, and she knew it. The bond between creator and fledgling that had kept him at her side so far had dissolved. He could desert her whenever he wished.

He must have known it for some time now. And still he'd agreed to destroy this place, and many others, for no better reason than that she'd asked him to. What was he waiting for? How many more deaths would pile up around him while he bided his time?

Thoughts of anger and revenge festered in the minds of the captives behind the green door. Jasper had a feeling he'd pay for this someday.